Respondents' answers depended largely on their political affiliation.

A poll out Monday concludes that a majority of Americans disapprove of the FBI's decision not to recommend charges against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presumptive nominee for president who has been embroiled in a scandal involving her treatment of classified e-mail when she was Secretary of State.

The ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted by Langer Research Associates found that 56 percent of those surveyed said they "disapprove" of FBI Director James Comey's decision last week. Attorney General Loretta Lynch backed the recommendation. Thirty five percent answered that they "approve" of the decision. About 9 percent of respondents said they had "no opinion" on the issue.

The poll was conducted July 6-7 of a random sample of 519 adults on landlines and mobile phones. It has a margin of error rating of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

In another question, respondents were asked whether "the outcome of this issue made you (more) likely to support Clinton for president, (less) likely, or won't it make any difference in your vote? Roughly 58 percent answered "no difference," 28 percent said "less likely, and 10 percent "more likely." Four percent said they had "no opinion."

A third and final question asked: "Does this issue make you worry about how Clinton might handle her responsibilities if she's elected president, or do you think it's not related to how she might handle her responsibilities if elected? (IF WORRIED) Are you very worried about this, or somewhat worried?" Fourty-three percent of respondents said "very" and 14 percent answered "somewhat." Another 39 percent said "not related" while 3 percent had "no opinion."

That said, respondents' answers depended largely on their political affiliation, according to the survey.

Nearly nine in 10 Republicans disagree with the FBI’s decision and say it worries them about what she’d do if she became president.

Democrats see things very differently, but with less unanimity – about two-thirds approve of the decision not to charge Clinton and think the issue is unrelated to what she’d do as president. But three in 10 of Clinton’s own party faithful think she should have been charged.

Further, as noted, political independents side more with Republicans on the issue, with roughly six in 10 saying the FBI was wrong and that the issue raises worries about Clinton as president.

On July 5, Comey issued a harsh assessment of the former secretary of state's use of a private e-mail server, calling Clinton's handling of classified data "extremely careless" and suggesting that it was possible her home-based mail server had been breached by hackers. The director, however, said he was not recommending criminal charges. He concluded there was a lack of evidence that Clinton had intended to expose or transmit classified data, or that she mishandled information in a willful oversight of her responsibilities.

Two days later, the US State Department took up its own investigation again, looking into the handling of classified information by Clinton, her staff, and other State Department employees who forwarded classified information via State’s unclassified e-mail system.

David Kravets
The senior editor for Ars Technica. Founder of TYDN fake news site. Technologist. Political scientist. Humorist. Dad of two boys. Been doing journalism for so long I remember manual typewriters with real paper. Emaildavid.kravets@arstechnica.com//Twitter@dmkravets